Article

2005-09-16 Europe

German Election Campaign: The SPD Takes the Prize of Shame

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Posted by True German Ally 2005-09-16 13:23|| || Front Page|| [8 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 If she did, maybe those American guys wouldn't be in those boxes.

Posted by tu3031 2005-09-16 14:30|| 2005-09-16 14:30|| Front Page Top

#2 Just one more SPD effort to patch up the strained friendship between the US and Germans don't you understand? This shouldn't be a shock. The SPD won the last election with this same kind of Anti-US propaganda. The German press is often Anti-US and many of it's citizens are too. Nothing to see here.

Just another European state in decline and denial. The US makes a convenient scape goat since all Germany's problems are of course caused by the US didn't you know. The German way is always better, just look how successful they have been with Iran!

Merkel's election will not change things by much. You will still have the same press and public sentiment.

Posted by Sock Puppet OÂ´ Doom 2005-09-16 14:43|| 2005-09-16 14:43|| Front Page Top

#3 Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back, Fritz.

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2005-09-16 14:44|| 2005-09-16 14:44|| Front Page Top

#4 TGA, I never think a politician can't sink any lower.

And I'm sure the American ~~Democrats~~ Leftists are taking notes....

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2005-09-16 14:45|| http://www.ariellestjohndesigns.com]">[http://www.ariellestjohndesigns.com] 2005-09-16 14:45|| Front Page Top

#5 Schroeder Doesn't Speak for All Germans

By Angela Merkel
Thursday, February 20, 2003; Page A39

Rarely do we have the experience of witnessing firsthand the end of one epoch and the beginning of another. But this is exactly what people all over the world are now living through. This epochal change began with the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989, which marked a victory for freedom and the opening of the transatlantic partnership to the East. It continued with the events of Sept. 11, 2001, which shook the United States to its very foundations -- with consequences that, to this day, many Europeans have not fully grasped. Because of these decisive events, Europe and the United States now must redefine the nucleus of their domestic, foreign and security policy principles.

Europe is, on the one hand, assuming new responsibilities around the world, whether in Kosovo or Afghanistan. On the other hand, it is divided, maybe even deeply split. Thus, for example, aid to Turkey, our partner in the alliance, is blocked for days in the NATO Council by France, Belgium and Germany, a situation that undermines the very basis of NATO's legitimacy. The most important lesson of German politics -- never again should Germany go it alone -- is swept aside with seeming ease by a German federal government that has done precisely this, for the sake of electoral tactics. The Eastern European candidate countries for membership in the European Union are attacked by the French government simply because they have declared their commitment to the transatlantic partnership between Europe and the United States.

But there is a more positive side as well. An agreement was reached at the emergency EU summit on Monday: On the basis of U.N. Resolution 1441, participants decided on a coordinated attitude to be adopted by the Europeans in the Iraq conflict. The agreement, which was long overdue, has forced the German federal government to make its first change of course in its policy toward Iraq. As the German parliamentary opposition, we welcome this change and expect the German government's behavior on the U.N. Security Council to be in accord with the EU decision, although we also have reason to doubt it will be.

Two things have been highlighted once again by the EU decision. First, the danger from Iraq is not fictitious but real. Second, working not against but jointly with the United States, Europe must take more responsibility for maintaining international pressure on Saddam Hussein. As is argued in the EU summit declaration, this means advocating military force as the last resort in implementing U.N. resolutions.

It is true that war must never become a normal way of resolving political disputes. But the history of Germany and Europe in the 20th century in particular certainly teaches us this: that while military force cannot be the normal continuation of politics by other means, it must never be ruled out, or even merely questioned -- as has been done by the German federal government -- as the ultimate means of dealing with dictators. Anyone who rejects military action as a last resort weakens the pressure that needs to be maintained on dictators and consequently makes a war not less but more likely.

This is a grave matter: Peace is a supreme good, for the sake of which every effort has to be made. But it is also true that responsible political leadership must on no account trade the genuine peace of the future for the deceptive peace of the present. The determination and unity of the free nations will, in the Iraq conflict, have a decisive effect not only on the outcome of the crisis but on the way in which we shape the future of Europe and its relationship with the United States. They will have a decisive effect, too, on how we guarantee peace, freedom and security, and how we find appropriate answers to the new threats of our time. Will it be alone or together, with determination or in despair, with our partners or against them?

I am convinced that Europe and the United States will have to opt for a common security alliance in the future, just as they did in the past. The United States is the only remaining superpower, but even so it will have to rely on dependable partners over the long term. Germany needs its friendship with France, but the benefits of that friendship can be realized only in close association with our old and new European partners, and within the transatlantic alliance with the United States.

A couple of days ago, an article in the SÃ¼ddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's major national newspapers, carried the headline "The End of a Friendship." It included the following passage: "For Germany, a permanent break with America would probably be not much of a liberation but a return to an ugly old-new reality, to the completely disillusioned world of the old Europe with its narrow-mindedness and disloyalty. Gratitude, friendship with America: in future these could still prove to be reasonable feelings."

For the party that I lead, our close partnership and friendship with the United States is just as much a fundamental element of Germany's national purpose as European integration. But both will be successful only if it is possible to build new trust and we are able to formulate our own interests. There is no acceptable alternative to this way forward at the beginning of this new epoch.

Posted by True German Ally 2005-09-16 15:00|| 2005-09-16 15:00|| Front Page Top

#6 We've seen what happens when Germany under a socialist government sends troops to other countries.

Posted by Jackal">Jackal 2005-09-16 15:07|| home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html]">[home.earthlink.net/~sleepyjackal/index.html] 2005-09-16 15:07|| Front Page Top

#7 Leftists are taking notes....

Im not sure the CD would look all that "right" by American standards. Theyre not for privatizing your national health insurance, are they TGA? Theyve got some folks flirting with flat taxes, but IIUC theyve stepped back from that. If Merkel were an American shed be either a centrist Dem, or, more likely, a "RINO" republican, I think.

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-09-16 15:23|| 2005-09-16 15:23|| Front Page Top

#8
Yeah, I'm hearing some desperation.. If the German economy were even mediocre he could put those numbers up, but this can't hide over 10 percent unemployment and a stagnant economy.

It seems to be very similar here. The Dems are out of new ideas. The old ones - Marxism/Socialism hasn't worked for them, but they still cling to them. So all they have left is imagery like this. Well, that and class envy, but that's right out of the Manifesto too.

Posted by macofromoc 2005-09-16 15:23|| 2005-09-16 15:23|| Front Page Top

#9 class interests, like all economic interests in politics, are as American as apple pie. Read Federalist number 10, by James Madison.

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-09-16 15:25|| 2005-09-16 15:25|| Front Page Top

#10 So if the Dems are out of ideas, how many seats do you expect them to lose in the house in 2006?

Posted by liberalhawk 2005-09-16 15:26|| 2005-09-16 15:26|| Front Page Top

#11 Not so fast LH
Merkel is actually rather close to what the Germans call "neoliberal" (flat tax etc), but of course she has to deal with all those prime ministers of the lÃ¤nder. She has announced to appoint a finance minister who advocates a flat tax (actually a maximum income tax of 25%). That tax is not likely to happen tomorrow of course.

Privatizing medical insurance? I would be against that. I prefer the way we have with corrections: More freedom to choose and much less insurance bureaucracy. I want everyone to have insurance and the best care. I'm not too fond with the US system, to be frank, that can leave you bankrupt because of medical bills.

Posted by True German Ally 2005-09-16 15:39|| 2005-09-16 15:39|| Front Page Top

#12 I've got an open mind. Let's hear your new ideas. Tell me what new ideas you have for the economy. Tell me what steps can be taken to get France and Germany's unemployment below 10 percent. How are you, as a liberal going to increase they're GDP.

Are the Democrats on the right track here in this country? Would you do anything to improvements. Tell me your new ideas.

Posted by macofromoc 2005-09-16 15:46|| 2005-09-16 15:46|| Front Page Top

#13 and it all depends on the number of dead voters who vote.

Posted by macofromoc 2005-09-16 15:55|| 2005-09-16 15:55|| Front Page Top

#14 that last post was in regards to the number of lost democratic seats in 06.

Posted by macofromoc 2005-09-16 15:57|| 2005-09-16 15:57|| Front Page Top

#15 1) Reduce and simplify taxes, family friendly taxation
2) Reduce forced social contributions
3) De-bureaucratize work and the creation of companies/jobs, encourage investments by reducing red tape
4) Increase percentage of capital-financed pensions
5) Simplify medical insurance system with better rights to chose
6) Far more flexibility with hiring and firing
7) Encourage innovation in science and education
8) Make it easier for small and medium sized businesses to get bank credit and venture capital

That's just for starters

Posted by True German Ally 2005-09-16 15:59|| 2005-09-16 15:59|| Front Page Top

#16 Wait a sec, that's beginning to sound suspiciously like free-market capitalism! You'll never get away with it, you swine! Lol.

Posted by .com 2005-09-16 16:02|| 2005-09-16 16:02|| Front Page Top

#17 These are the all things the joint party program of CDU/CSU demands.
They will form a government with the FDP which is even more "libertarian".
We all know how hard it is to realize all this.
But we'll never find out if we don't try.
Germany should be the best economy in Europe.

Posted by True German Ally 2005-09-16 16:08|| 2005-09-16 16:08|| Front Page Top

#18 I hope Angie wins and TGA gets appointed Assistant Chancellor or Number Two Fella What's In Charge or whatever you call it so's you can straighten that place out.

Posted by Mike 2005-09-16 17:03|| 2005-09-16 17:03|| Front Page Top

#19 Germany should be the best economy in Europe.

It was for so many decades, thanks primarily to one man who ignored the socialist statist pablum he was fed by his occupiers. How could the memory of one who wrote Prosperity through Competition be lost to those in his homeland?

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-09-16 17:08|| 2005-09-16 17:08|| Front Page Top

#20 Germany could do so much, but ends up with so little. Kinda like the democrats.

Posted by mmurray821 2005-09-16 17:33|| 2005-09-16 17:33|| Front Page Top

#21 Mike

Can I finally retire..lol.
No, no job for me... maybe a few friendly advices that might not go unnoticed.

Ah Ms Davis, Ludwig Erhard...

In June 1948 General Clay summoned Erhard and scolded him:

"How can you dare to change the allied rationing rules for Germany?"

Erhard: "General, I did not change them. I abolished them."

Clay: "My consultants tell me you're making a mistake with that."

Erhard: "My consultants tell me the same."

Posted by True German Ally 2005-09-16 17:33|| 2005-09-16 17:33|| Front Page Top

#22 I still prefer Stoiber.

Posted by Pappy 2005-09-16 18:43|| 2005-09-16 18:43|| Front Page Top

#23 Me too (and a pony)

Posted by True German Ally 2005-09-16 20:30|| 2005-09-16 20:30|| Front Page Top

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